*Article* **Finite Element Modelling of a Composite Shell with Shear Connectors**

### **Hoang-Nam Nguyen 1, Tran Ngoc Canh 2, Tran Trung Thanh 3, Tran Van Ke 3, Van-Duc Phan 4,\* and Do Van Thom 3,\***


Received: 1 March 2019; Accepted: 29 March 2019; Published: 11 April 2019

**Abstract:** A three-layer composite shell with shear connectors is made of three shell layers with one another connected by stubs at the contact surfaces. These layers can have similar or different geometrical and physical properties with the assumption that they always contact and have relative movement in the working process. Due to these characteristics, they are used widely in many engineering applications, such as ship manufacturing and production, aerospace technologies, transportation, and so on. However, there are not many studies on these types of structures. This paper is based on the first-order shear deformation Mindlin plate theory and finite element method (FEM) to establish the oscillator equations of the shell structure under dynamic load. The authors construct the calculation program in the MATLAB environment and verify the accuracy of the established program. Based on this approach, we study the effects of some of the geometrical and physical parameters on the dynamic responses of the shell.

**Keywords:** three-layer composite shell; Mindlin plate theory; finite element method; force vibration
